• What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
As I recall starting this course I was most excited about the chance to get into a topic that I felt like was moving to the forefront of our schools. I really wasn’t too sure about what I would be doing in my coursework and how relevant was it going to be to the position of an administrator versus that of a classroom teacher. I was most surprised to get into both aspects. I felt like the study of the vision for technology and the use of technology like the blogs really helped me get my feet wet. I feel like the course met my expectation for dipping into both topics.
• To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?
As far as my position, I believe that having experience in what is relevant with technology in the classroom as well as understanding how to provide the infrastructure needed to accomplish this will really help me in the long term. I really think as an administrator there are many more ways to begin to communicate with the community and technology can support that at such high levels.
• What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
If I was to say there were any outcomes that I did not achieve, I’m not sure I could list them all. I think with technology there are too many components to address that how could it all be possible to get to them all effectively in a five week course. I believe that the course did a good job of scratching the surface of technology and its potential role in schools. I know that there has not been any class that I have asked so many questions of my campus administrative team any more than this, including “School Law”.
• Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I do believe that I was able to carry out the course assignments. I felt like I had to really rely on the rubric to guide my work in order to stay focused on the assignments. If I had an opportunity to revise anything about the course I believe it would deal mostly with the assignments for week three and week four. I have colleagues that have started the Lamar Masters program and are in their first class after the fundamentals class. I found myself having to provide help and direction to those colleagues for those assignments because of their lack of experience in areas like curriculum development. I’m not totally convinced that I really “got” assignment four, however I did feel like it had me problem solving at a high level to come to a final product.
• What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
As far as what information have I gained from this course I would say that the most important lesson was the idea that there is a plan for technology that we are following that I did not know existed. I also know that I will do a much better job with my Texas STaR chart in the future. As a potential leader, technology as a subject doesn’t scare me. Ultimately being the person that provides for the technology does frighten me to a point. Knowing that there are so many roadblocks to technology whether they are internet safety, cyber bullying or infrastructure and budgeting. I see, in my school district, that there are so many budget challenges and I realize that generally speaking technology is a priority. I think that my attitude is strong for technology; however I’m not sure that I can provide the real financial answers I will need as a campus administrator.
• What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?
I’m not sure that I can say where the concept of blogging for the 21st century learner ranks with educational value. I know that a number of students have accounts with social networking sites and I see those as a type of blog in some ways. The ability for educators to post research results and projects for sharing will allow for students globally to have access to a wealth of shared interest information.
• What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?
Blogging is a completely valid reality in education. I do realize that as a concept for gaining access to information instantly I would be most concerned with bad or misinformed information being taken as factual. Although the concept of Wikipedia is a good one, there are still errors. The fact that any user can change things in it prevents it from having a higher level of credibility universally. There is no question that a much larger amount of information shared in blogs will be accurate than not. I am just nervous about knowing what the percentage of misinformation will be.
• How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?
As school districts compete for the attention of the stakeholders, specifically the parents and students, we have to be creative with communication. I feel like emailing groups of parents that I teach is effective because I know that I am able to send them something directly. I don`t think I am ready to trust families to check my blog for current events. I can post assignments and information, such as resources, that can help parents with working on assignments with their student assignments.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Action Plan for Technology and Evaluation
The technology integration plan will be evaluated in several ways:
The Texas STaR chart campus results will be reviewed by the campus Director of Instruction and a determination of the level of technology inclusion in the classroom will be made.
Formal observations by campus leadership team appraisers will be done to determine if campus teachers are integrating lessons using technology.
Campus staff participation in staff development training activities will be reviewed annually at summative conferences.
Student assignment samples, resulting from lessons using technology, will be reviewed for comprehension.
The Texas STaR chart campus results will be reviewed by the campus Director of Instruction and a determination of the level of technology inclusion in the classroom will be made.
Formal observations by campus leadership team appraisers will be done to determine if campus teachers are integrating lessons using technology.
Campus staff participation in staff development training activities will be reviewed annually at summative conferences.
Student assignment samples, resulting from lessons using technology, will be reviewed for comprehension.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
STaR Chart Opinion
As I study the STaR chart results for my campus and compare them to national results I discover that our campus is doing very well with the technology.
Today I am going to focus on the area of Educator Preparation. This area is mostly concerned with providing teachers with not only the software and hardware in the classroom, but the instruction on such equipment so that it can be utilized to its potential. The ability for staff to gain not only knowledge, but confidence in using technology in their classrooms is necessary for improvement in this caption. The vertical alignment of TEKS and the anytime, anywhere use of online resources in the classroom can be daunting so training and preparation is crucial.
Our campus specifically has shown some improvement in this area in the last three years moving from developing technology to the caption of advanced technology. My opinion is that the "target" technology is out of reach for most campuses because such inclusion of technology would almost completely change the landscape of the current classroom. State and National progress shows that we are currently ranked amongst the most technologically proficient campuses.
The trend I notice for our state and country is that our biggest hurdle with technology is the education of the teachers. The only way that our campuses and classrooms will become more technologically savvy is if our teachers acquire the knowledge to make it so.
I foresee that there will be a shift from staff training that focuses on relationships and student behavior to one that is more about technology inclusion in the classroom at all levels of instruction.
One thing I can take from studying the background of the STaR chart and more importantly its purpose I know that I will make a more conscious effort the next time the survey comes around.
Today I am going to focus on the area of Educator Preparation. This area is mostly concerned with providing teachers with not only the software and hardware in the classroom, but the instruction on such equipment so that it can be utilized to its potential. The ability for staff to gain not only knowledge, but confidence in using technology in their classrooms is necessary for improvement in this caption. The vertical alignment of TEKS and the anytime, anywhere use of online resources in the classroom can be daunting so training and preparation is crucial.
Our campus specifically has shown some improvement in this area in the last three years moving from developing technology to the caption of advanced technology. My opinion is that the "target" technology is out of reach for most campuses because such inclusion of technology would almost completely change the landscape of the current classroom. State and National progress shows that we are currently ranked amongst the most technologically proficient campuses.
The trend I notice for our state and country is that our biggest hurdle with technology is the education of the teachers. The only way that our campuses and classrooms will become more technologically savvy is if our teachers acquire the knowledge to make it so.
I foresee that there will be a shift from staff training that focuses on relationships and student behavior to one that is more about technology inclusion in the classroom at all levels of instruction.
One thing I can take from studying the background of the STaR chart and more importantly its purpose I know that I will make a more conscious effort the next time the survey comes around.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Hamilton MS STaR Chart 2009
STaR Chart Response 2009
Hamilton MS STaR Chart 2009
View more presentations from John.
Pre-K TEKS
The TEKS plan for Pre-K students in Texas is a great plan for laying a foundation of technology application for our youngest students. The ability to provide a solid foundation using playful and purpose driven instruction allows for students to begin their journey in technology.
The spiraling curriculum concept whereby information constantly connects itself in relevant ways is a popular concept in education. The ability to use technology to weave through information, software and hardware to enhance ones education allows for multiple opprotunities to master technology skills as they relate to technology TEKS.
The spiraling curriculum concept whereby information constantly connects itself in relevant ways is a popular concept in education. The ability to use technology to weave through information, software and hardware to enhance ones education allows for multiple opprotunities to master technology skills as they relate to technology TEKS.
Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology Summary
The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology is a plan set to prepare Texas students to be competitive savvy producers in society.
The realization that students, parents, educators and community members can benefit from the inclusion of technology in the classroom is no surprise. The detail of the plan is fairly comprehensive and covers all aspects needed to produce quality producers.
The one aspect of the plan that is possibly most behind is regarding the infrastructure of technology in our schools. I believe that there are too many fiscal roadblocks that prevent our schools from providing the necessary equipment, training and labor dedicated to such a large plan.
This plan should be a great resource to provide guidance for technology integration at my campus. Having the necessary background and timeline will help in my preparation of the students, staff, and community for the incluson of technology in our classrooms.
The realization that students, parents, educators and community members can benefit from the inclusion of technology in the classroom is no surprise. The detail of the plan is fairly comprehensive and covers all aspects needed to produce quality producers.
The one aspect of the plan that is possibly most behind is regarding the infrastructure of technology in our schools. I believe that there are too many fiscal roadblocks that prevent our schools from providing the necessary equipment, training and labor dedicated to such a large plan.
This plan should be a great resource to provide guidance for technology integration at my campus. Having the necessary background and timeline will help in my preparation of the students, staff, and community for the incluson of technology in our classrooms.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Technology Assessments - Week 1
My first weeks posting for Instructional Technology course has me completeting two technology surveys.
The first survey was the Technology Applications Inventory. This survey dealt mostly with my knowledge of software and hardware in and out of the classroom. It appears by this survey that I am fairly knowledgable about the basics of computing and technology. I am also fairly proficient when it comes to acquiring information and knowledge through the use of technology. Solving problems through the use of advanced technological applications would be my weakest area surveyed. I just don't have much experience at higher level use of the software available to us. I consider myself more pedestrian when it comes to creating collaborative software and productivity tools to create products, etc. The final topic surveyed dealt with my communication skills relating to technology. Having some basic skills in creating posters, mass mailings, email newsletters helps me in this surveyed field.
The second survey is the State Educational Technology Directors Assocoiation (SETDA) survey. This survey is most interested in understanding my use of technology in the classroom. How I use it? When I use it? How often I use it? It is fairly clear to me that because of my classroom setting in the band hall, that I am doing a fairly good job of implementing technology, especially with the use of SmartMusic software. If I was in the academic areas of the school (language arts, math, sciences) I am certain that my responses would have been much different as our district is very current and expects its staff to use technolgy to enhance and promote lessons.
Overall I would say that these surveys are good launching points for the academic teacher and their use of technology in the classroom, however i'm not sure that the SETDA survey couldn't be designed to be a bit more content area specific.
The first survey was the Technology Applications Inventory. This survey dealt mostly with my knowledge of software and hardware in and out of the classroom. It appears by this survey that I am fairly knowledgable about the basics of computing and technology. I am also fairly proficient when it comes to acquiring information and knowledge through the use of technology. Solving problems through the use of advanced technological applications would be my weakest area surveyed. I just don't have much experience at higher level use of the software available to us. I consider myself more pedestrian when it comes to creating collaborative software and productivity tools to create products, etc. The final topic surveyed dealt with my communication skills relating to technology. Having some basic skills in creating posters, mass mailings, email newsletters helps me in this surveyed field.
The second survey is the State Educational Technology Directors Assocoiation (SETDA) survey. This survey is most interested in understanding my use of technology in the classroom. How I use it? When I use it? How often I use it? It is fairly clear to me that because of my classroom setting in the band hall, that I am doing a fairly good job of implementing technology, especially with the use of SmartMusic software. If I was in the academic areas of the school (language arts, math, sciences) I am certain that my responses would have been much different as our district is very current and expects its staff to use technolgy to enhance and promote lessons.
Overall I would say that these surveys are good launching points for the academic teacher and their use of technology in the classroom, however i'm not sure that the SETDA survey couldn't be designed to be a bit more content area specific.
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